You Can Go Home Again
by Xengo
Summary: Because in the end, there can be people to welcome you home. Spoilers for True-Pacifist route. Male Frisk as well. UPDATE: Fixed the formatting errors! Sorry about that.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone,

Undertale came out about three years ago, and it's about time I wrote something for it. The game affected me greatly, and still does. And there's something I have to do in writing, because Toby Fox won't let me do it in game. For those here familiar with my Star Fox work, maybe you'll like this. For those who've never seen my work before, maybe you'll like this. Non the less, I hope you have a good day.

* * *

You Can Go Home Again

 **Day One**

Once upon a time, Flowey hated the quiet. Quiet would bring boredom, and with that too much thinking, and with that too much dwelling on how much he hated feeling so empty. Whole timelines of him murdering everyone in fake jealous anger started over this. Back then he'd been lying to himself, that he killed them all because every monster in the Underground was an idiot who didn't understand how the world really worked. So he would educate them again and again, trying to pretend that he was feeling something during it all. Of course, he was not.

Now, the Underground was empty, and only quiet was left. After everything that happened, after Frisk showed him MERCY and SAVED him from committing his greatest mistake, Flowey was thankful for the quiet. Grabbing on to any kind of pretend hate or malice didn't feel right anymore. All he had now was time, and time to think and watch the flowers. He hadn't left the small chamber beneath the hole in the mountain since Frisk left about a day ago. Or at least he thought it was a day.

That small patch of golden flowers stirred in the slight wind that came from the opening above.

"What am I going to do, Chara?" Flowey said. Now, he was bored again. Maybe he could destroy something non-living? Snowden Town was empty, so no one needed those houses anymore. It would be a nice diversion. Then, he remembered.

 _He waited for some minutes more, counting the seconds until the change would begin, when he would feel empty again. But he heard footsteps coming from the tunnel back to the rest of the Underground, and there was Frisk, painting and with tears in his eyes. He was hunched over when he was in front of him again._

 _"Frisk," he said, smiling sadly, "I told you, don't you have anything better to do?"_

 _"No," said Frisk firmly. "No, I don't."_

 _It hurt when Frisk looked at him. The boy's eyes communicated how much pain he was feeling over leaving him. Frisk reached out and grabbed his hands tightly._

 _"This isn't fair," Frisk gritted out, chocking back sobs. "You need help the most, and I can't help you."_

 _"Frisk.."_

 _"Let me finish," said Frisk. "Listen…I don't care what you look like. You're you. I want you to know that if you ever need anything, you come out of the_

 _Underground and find me or my friends, or call for help, understand? I will not abandon you. We will not abandon you"_

 _"Frisk, I can't-"_

 _"_ _Stop_ _."_

 _He'd never seen Frisk look so distraught. He was tearing apart at the seams._

 _"Please, just promise me that. You aren't alone. You're never alone, as long as you got me and everyone else somewhere."_

 _He looked at Frisk in shock. No one could be this good, no one could be this kind, but everything that happened just a little while ago was proof enough that someone_ _could be._

 _"I…" he sniffled. "I…Frisk…I-I promise."_

 _Frisk hugged him, hugged him tighter than after the barrier broke. "Be good," said Frisk._

 _He froze. He knew those words._

 _"Be good, okay?" Frisk repeated. "I know…I know you have it in you, Asriel."_

Flowey shook.

He banished the thought of destroying those homes for nothing. That gnawing emptiness was still there, but the memory brought back the memory of feelings, and that was enough for the moment. Flowey looked up at the shaft of light from the opening. Frisk was up there somewhere, and while he promised that he would seek him out if he needed anything, he wasn't about to bother him. Flowey didn't deserve it.

"I'll…I'll be good, Frisk," said Flowey. He was so caught up in the moment, and how those words echoed into the darkness, that he didn't notice his voice sounded less distorted.

* * *

 **Day Two**

"Chara…I won't let myself do anything to them," said Flowey.

Talking to the grave was comforting in it's own way. The emptiness was still there, but just the idea that he really wasn't alone down here was something of a comfort.

"I just want to let them be happy," he said He imagined that his first best friend was sitting on the flowers, listening and probably thinking he was a crybaby—and he was—but Chara in his best moments was a good listener.

"But I'm so afraid," said Flowey. "I'm just one moment of…of anything from taking it all away, aren't I?"  
The little flower shivered.

"But I have to be here," said Flowey. "I don't deserve anything."

Again, the quiet began to overwhelm him. Flowey drooped, and-

" _Undyne, there's someone I'd like you to meet," said his father._

 _She looked so scary. A scary fish girl with an eye that looked way too intense, and he buried his face in his father's shoulder as he carried him._

 _"Aw, c'mon little guy. I ain't gonna hurt you. That would be unheroic." He turned around. She had a hand on her hips, another hand around a spear. Her eye settled on him, and her grin was toothy and full of self-assurance. He was reminded of all the stories his mom told him of heroes. "My name's Undyne! Guard and future number one hero in the Underground!"_

 _"As ambitious as always, Undyne," said his father, chuckling._

 _"Well, duh. I'm AM the greatest already. Just gotta work hard to make everyone realize it," said Undyne. "That takes a lot of effort."_

 _He looked at her with interest, and a little smile. She looked so cool._

 _Undyne visibly cheered up more, now that he wasn't afraid of her. "Hey, there we go." She extended a hand. "Put 'er there, kid. Nice to meet ya. Wanna be friends?"_

 _He put his hand—so small—in hers. In a shy little voice, he spoke, "Hi, n-nice to meet you. I'm A-Asriel-"_

Flowey blinked.

He stared off into space, still not sure if he was back in the Underground. He shivered a little, looking down at one of his leaves.

"What?" he said. "Why-"

 _"oh, hey there fluffybuns," Now they were in the construction site for this big…thing that one of his father's scientists was building. The heat of Hotland swelled all over. His father was carrying him again, and he was looking down in interest at the short skeleton grinning at him with an easy smile._

 _"Sans, I thought I told you to not call me that in public. I tell everyone that," said his father, huffing._

 _"king, everyone calls you that when you aren't looking. i think you've lost this one," said the skeleton, who's name was Sans. He thought he looked silly with that big grin of his._

 _"come on, kid," said Sans, his grin getting wider. He extended a hand. "why don't ya greet a new friend?"_

 _He smiled. Another friend? Yay! Just like Undyne. He reached his little hand to meet Sans—his father had to kneel down—and let out a bleat of surprise when a loud and gross sound came from nowhere._

 _"ah, the classic," said Sans, a little cushion or something deflating in his palm. "nice to meet ya kid."_

 _He just cocked his head to the side._  
 _"Sans!" said a nervous-sounding voice. "Did you just whoopie-cushion the king's son!? Oh my god."_

 _A short looking lady came into view, a lizard monster with large glasses and a lab coat. The little boss monster swore he'd seen her before. "You know that's extremely rude, right?" said the lizard lady._

 _"you know i got old fluffybuns here the first time i met him, right? papyrus said the same thing you did." said Sans._

 _"It's true," said his father. "Sans, you're such a villain."_

 _"i try."_

 _The lizard lady turned to face the king and bowed. "Y-your majesty, it's nice to see you," she said. She brightened when she saw the little form in his arm. "Aw, you brought him. That's cute."_

 _"You've met him before, Alphys?" said his father._

 _"Q-Queen Toriel brought him over once to say hi," said Alphys. The little boss monster waved shyly to her. It made him smile when she waved back just as shyly._

 _"H-hi there," said Alphys. "How are you, C-Crown Prince Asriel-"_

Flowey felt something leak down his face, and fall to the floor.

He touched his face with a leaf, and was surprised to find tears. A sensation welled inside him. The emptiness hurt, hurt so terribly bad when he recalled better times. He'd been so good at suppressing these memories before. He closed his eyes, and tried to shut the memories out. He did not deserve this.

 **Be good, Asriel**

Flowey shook again, as more tears fell. "I..." he said. "Frisk, it hurts."

His voice was less distorted. No more memories came that night.

* * *

 **Day Three**

Again, at Chara's grave, trying to stop memories and trying to keep his promise to Frisk. It was so easy back then to just drop into malice and anger that he didn't really feel. He remembered a time when his mom told him that evil was much easier than good, and those words always hung around while he was in the midst of killing sprees. She'd been right. Evil was so much easier. It wasn't even giving in to the emptiness. It was like giving in to a base and guilty instinct. It horrified him how quickly he could do it, when back when he had a soul he couldn't hurt a fly. Transforming into that…that thing when he fought Frisk the first time was easy as flipping a switch. Back then, he thought he was being cool. Now, it was just pathetic. Everything about him was pathetic.

The image of Frisk's crying face appeared at that thought. "What do you want me to do!?" he yelled at this imaginary Frisk. He ground his teeth and sounded hysterical. "How can I be good? I don't want to go up there! I can't! Do you want me to kill someone on accident?"

Imaginary Frisk just kept staring. It was just like when that boy spared him after that terrible fight, looking at him with pity while he teared up helplessly at honest to goodness pity.

"…I can't understand," whimpered Flowey

 **Asriel**

Flowey straightened up.

"Huh?" he said, looking around. "What? Who's there?"

The flower about doubled over when he felt something explode in his stem. He couldn't understand what it was, he was so shocked, until he felt something that hurt. And it was a feeling. He couldn't understand, but it was there and it made him shake.

"What?" he said. "What's going on-"

 _A quiet morning. He was looking out the window of his home from his crib, standing up and holding the bars and staring at those beautiful yellow things outside. There were so many of them. He heard a door open behind him, someone coming into the room._

 _"Do you like them, Asriel?"_

 _His father loomed over the crib, staring down at his son with utter love and affection. He picked him up in his arms and gave him a better view of the yard out front. He reached out for those yellow objects, though the window stood between them._

 _"Those are flowers, son," said his father, chuckling. "Beautiful, aren't they? Just like you."_

Flowey gasped in pain as the memory ended, sweating as that feeling became a yawning, aching yearning for something. The emptiness felt more horrible than ever, and he shook uncontrollably.

"Stop," he gritted out. "I don't want to see this. Stop-"

 **Asriel**

 _A kitchen. The smell of something baking in the oven, and himself sitting in a high chair watching his mother work her cooking magic. She was humming a tune that she always hummed when she baked, and every so often she looked back at him to give him a smile that showed unconditional love. He felt safe._

 _A ding rang out._

 _"There we are, my child," she said, opening the oven and taking out something she called a pie, and just like the others before it smelled better than anything he'd ever smelled so far. He giggled and cooed, reaching for the pie as his mother set it to cool on the kitchen counter._

 _"You have to wait, Asriel," said his mother, petting him on the head. "I know you love my pies so much, but it's too hot right now."_

 **Come home**

Oh, god, it hurt.

The tears came and they didn't stop. Flowey felt the memories as fully as if he was there. He wanted to climb into them and run away from this horrible reality and cry into his mother or father's shoulder and tell them how sorry he was, that he was a bad son that deserved nothing. Quiet tears became whimpering and gasps for air.

"Stop," said Flowey. His voice settled into a familiar tone, and he hated it. "Stop, I can't-"

 _Waterfall._

 _"One day, mama," he said, while his mother showed him a particularly beautiful cave in Waterfall, "I want to go on an adventure. I wanna see the surface."_

 _His mother smiled sadly. "Maybe someday, we will," she said._

 _He gave her a grin. "I think we will, for sure!"_

 _Mis mother just looked at him, and her smile became less sad. "Just remember this," she said. "Where ever you go, my child…"_

 _"Yes, mama?"_

"Stop," the crying flower pleaded. "Please."

 ** _"You can always come home again, Asriel."_**

Flowey snapped.

Hundreds of timelines worth of tears ands screams of pain ripped themselves from his lungs and he bawled like a child. The caverns echoed with his wails. He didn't know how long he cried for, it may have been hundreds of years, but he sobbed and sobbed out everything he could, not caring that emptiness still awaited him in the end. He wanted to die. But more than that, he wanted something else.

"Help me," he whimpered, when it was all over.

"I don't want to stay here…" he said, his face morphing into the visage of familiar child. "I…I wanna go home…I want to feel again…"

More whimpering. "I…I just want to go home…I want my mom and dad…"

A white light filled the cavern.

In his moments before he lost consciousness, Asriel saw his mother and father, and he felt his limbs and his arms and his heart and he ran crying to them and sobbed into their arms. It had to be a dream. It could only be a dream. But he didn't care.

The light dimmed in the cavern.


	2. Chapter 2

I have rough drafts of the story written out to Chapter 5, so these updates will be somewhat frequent. I'd like to thank those who gave this story a look. I figured I should put this chapter out now, to let people know I won't be putting the first chapter out and then never updating again.

Have a good night everyone, and as always, thank you for your time.

* * *

You Can Go Home Again

Chapter II

Somewhere in the forest surrounding Asgore's cottage, an owl hooted. The King of the Monsters slowly opened his eyes, blinked, and wiped them. He was sitting in his favorite chair, and a quick look out the window let him know choosing chair had been a dangerous choice. Judging from the stars right outside his window, his afternoon nap ran longer than he intended.

Asgore stood up and stretched, yawning while he did so, and looked at the grandfather clock standing by the bookcase. Thirty minutes past nine. Nine PM, he remembered to add. Frisk taught him the particulars of surface time, and though the day and night cycles in the Underground weren't too off from the actual cycles on the surface, it still took some getting used to. But it wasn't too hard. Having a giant ball of fire in the sky during the day, and a giant white ball amongst the stars at night, made telling time remarkably easy.

Glancing towards the kitchen, Asgore wondered about tea. He decided he wasn't thirsty. He looked around his living room to let the post-nap grogginess leave with time. The small cottage he made for himself on the surface was quaint and homely, just as he planned. It was laid out similarly to the previous homes, though this one was smaller for obvious and still painful reasons. He shook his head lightly to get off that train of thought.

What he loved the most were the pictures. They were arranged on a dresser close to the fireplace, all of them of his friends and the other monsters enjoying the surface. One was of him and Frisk—taken by Sans—gardening together. Another of Undyne posing with Papyrus and trying to out-cool the other, while Alphys was blushing off to the side. Another still was a candid picture of Sans napping on the roof of the skeleton's house. Then there was one he took of Toriel and Frisk waving at him, and it was the only one of Toriel amongst the photos. There were more, of course, in the basement. Asgore didn't believe he could face those pictures again.

"You don't get anywhere by obsessing on the past," he whispered to himself Focusing on happy memories helped. The pictures soothed an aching soul. The pictures of Frisk made him smile in particular. The boy was proud to call him "Dad," and Asgore was more than happy to call him "son" as long as the boy was willing. Asgore's smile grew wistful.

"Well," he said, looking out the window again, "I can't just stay inside all night. Not when all the stars are out."

That was another thing. There were actual stars up in the heavens. Not crystal's glowing brightly on the highest ceilings of the Underground. Honest-to-goodness stars. The surface sure was something.

Asgore decided he would go for a walk, beneath those stars.

* * *

It was a mild night, in the middle of what Frisk called "September." Not quite fall yet, but not exactly summer anymore either. Asgore took a trail deeper into the forest, that run close to Mt. Ebott. The mountain didn't intimidate him. He could respect the wishes of monsters who, frankly, never wanted to see the mountain again. It brought too many painful memories. Certainly, he was not immune to such painful associations. But Asgore loved nature, and the mountain was a natural marvel all it's own. A full moon was out tonight, and the black form of the mountain rose to the heavens like a looming creature. Asgore found it breathtaking.

A sound broke through the quiet night. Footsteps. Probably someone out on a walk, like him. With a friendly voice, Asgore called out, "Howdy! Who goes there?"

"Asgore?" said a gentle voice tinged with surprise. Asgore froze.

Toriel came walking down the path, looking just as surprised as her voice sounded. "Tori! I mean, Toriel!" said Asgore, quickly correcting himself. "Well. Golly, are you out for a walk as well?"

Toriel did not look displeased to see him, which was a relief. "I..yes, I am. It's a nice night, and I needed to clear my head."

Her voice was music to his ears, as always. "I over-napped," he said, smiling sheepishly. "You know how I am. So I've come to walk and pass the time." He chuckled nervously. Toriel's thoughtful frown didn't go away.

"I can go another way though," said Asgore quickly. "I don't want to bother you, especially if you have some thinking to do."

"Asgore…" said Toriel, before shaking her head and looking at him with an exasperated expression. "You don't have to leave. And stop looking so guilty." She said that last part with a stern look. Asgore straightened up quickly.

"If you say so," he said. Underneath his genial smile he was still greatly nervous.

The two walked in silence for a short while, Asgore trying to look everywhere but at her, because if he did start looking at her he would start to stare. That would aggravate her, more than likely.

"Asgore," said Toriel. "You consider Frisk a son, right?"

"Of course," said Asgore. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Then you deserve to know this," said Toriel. "The poor child has nightmares. Every night since we've come to the surface, in fact."

Asgore frowned. Frisk never told him what exactly happened during his trip through the Underground. Judging just from the looks he gave when he thought others weren't looking, and by the pauses he'd have in the middle of talking about his journey, Asgore wasn't surprised the boy had such bad dreams. It still hurt him to hear of such a thing, all the same.

"I've noticed he looks like he doesn't get enough sleep," said Asgore.

"It's not bad enough that he's waking up screaming," said Toriel. "But there are nights when he wakes up and comes to my bed, crying, and he sleeps with me the rest of the night. Then there are nights when I wake up to hear him crying in his sleep upstairs Something causes him such great pain. Frisk is such a dear, Asgore. He doesn't deserve this. Not after all he's done for us."

"Of course not," said Asgore sadly. "Is there something I can do?"

"That's just the thing. He won't tell anyone about what the nightmares are about," said Toriel, looking helpless. "Frisk won't even tell Sans, and Sans is something of an uncle to the child. Something is hurting him so, and I can't help him. And I don't want him to tell me if it's his wish to keep it to himself. I respect that decision, but…" Toriel's eyes began to mist.

It hurt Asgore deeply to see her like this. "He will tell us in time, Tori," said Asgore. He noticed Toriel didn't flinch at his nickname. "He's a good child. We just have to wait."

"I know," said Toriel, wiping her eyes. "I just don't want to do nothing and just watch, like…like with the other children-"

"It wasn't your fault," said Asgore, his face hardening.

"Asgore…"

"I won't allow it," said Asgore. "I'm still reeling from their parent's and relatives forgiveness. I will not have you blame-"

"Asgore, I locked myself up in the ruins and did nothing. I let them all go, and acted surprised when the worst happened. It happened because I did nothing," said Toriel. Her voice and expression left no room for argument. Her strong will was one of the reasons he loved her. One of many reasons. "Whatever moral high ground I thought I had, does not exist."

It pained Asgore to let her blame herself, but he loved her. If this is what she wanted, he would let her have it. "As you wish," he said, smiling sadly.

Toriel looked at him for a moment, until she smiled sadly back. Asgore could guess they were remembering better times together, because he certainly was. This moment, beneath the stars on a mild night, was the closest Asgore had felt to Toriel in years.

Asgore's ears twitched, as he picked up a strange sound in the air. Asgore frowned, and looked around the surrounding forest. No, that wasn't a cricket or a wild animal. It was a eerie sound, like faint crying. As faint as the sound was, Asgore could clearly pick up the sadness within it.

"You hear it too?" said Toriel.

Asgore nodded. "You can go home if you'd like, Tori," said Asgore. "I'm going to investigate. It sounds-"

"-like crying?" Toriel said.

"Yes," said Asgore. "You can tell too, then?"

"If it's crying, maybe someone needs help. I won't just stand aside," said Toriel. And that was that.

Looking around again, Asgore made the guess that the sound was coming from the mountain.

* * *

That guess was correct. The two boss monsters began to climb Mt. Ebott, making their way slowly to the entrance to the Underground. As they did so, Asgore clearly heard the sound get louder and louder, and more and more heartbreaking. Who could it be? A monster who stayed behind, but was now besieged with great loneliness? Or a human child who once again fell down by accident? Both thoughts made him hurry, and evidently Toriel was thinking similar thoughts, because she was keeping up. They made it to the entrance. Asgore hesitated before walking inside. Toriel followed behind him.

The crying was amplified by its echo bouncing off the Underground's walls. And they knew for certain now that it was crying. Asgore had to remember to focus on the sound, because at moments he felt the temptation to lose himself in memories. Passing by his old home, and the monolithic CORE, and the arid walkways of Hotland, all of it brought back memories painful and nostalgic. Toriel moved in front of him. Her determination to solve this mystery was strong. She'd always been the more driven one.

When they entered Waterfall, both of them about jumped out of their fur, because the muffled crying exploded into wailing and the most heartbreaking sobbing Asgore ever heard. The whole Underground shook with the pain of a distorted voice that Asgore swore sounded familiar.

"We have to hurry," said Toriel.

They did. They came to Snowdin town, still looking so quaint despite it's deserted state. The snow muffled some of the echo, but the wailing still made it's presence known. The voice became less and less distorted and Asgore could swear it was familiar. Something about this voice stirred old memories, painful memories, forbidden memories locked in a trunk in the attic of his cottage. They reached the Ruins. They were jogging now. Asgore saw Toriel's face and could tell she, too, felt the wailing stir something in her. They reached their oldest home, now unlit and silent like a grave. The were moving down the final tunnels of the old Monster City, before—right before the final tunnel into the deepest part of the Underground—the sobbing reach a crescendo. The tunnel in front of them was filled with a white light. Then, the light dimmed.

The crying was quiet again.

"Help me…"

Asgore started to shake. That had to be his imagination, it could not be possible. He looked to Toriel for that assurance, but she was already moving towards the final chamber.

"I don't want to stay here…"

Asgore moved behind her.

"I want to go home…"

It could not be real.

Then, they were there. The deepest cavern in the Underground, a small place with a single patch of yellow flowers Asgore planted what seemed like eons ago. A single shaft of moonlight shined on the flowers like a pale translucent pillar. Something lay amoungst the flowers. Someone.

It could not be real.

"Mom…dad…"

A strange, heaving, choking noise ripped himself from Toriel's mouth. Asgore crept closer and closer, convinced that this was all a cruel, cruel dream bubbling from some dark corner of his mind that still hated himself. The form laying in the flowers brought memories of a family once whole and happy. It was a child. A child sleeping and crying softy, whimpering. Each whimper broke Asgore's heart.

It could not be real.

Kneeling by the patch of flowers, Asgore reached out a single paw. The small and whimpering form would crumble to dust, he believed. It would crumble any second now and he'd wake up in his cottage crying and he'd scream and break down _because it had been so real-_

His paw touched solid white fur. Silky, downy white fur. The small form in the flowers leaned against the touch.

"I wanna go home…"

With utter need Asgore took the child into his arms while his voice returned with stunned half-sobs and gasps. Toriel took off like a shot, running to his side and hugging the small form in his arms and crying, crying harder than she did that day so many years ago.

"A…A-A…" she said. "My baby…My child…"

"Asriel," Asgore whispered.

Asriel stirred, snuggling into his parents warmth. Both parents dissolved into sobs as they huddled close, holding a miracle in their arms. A miracle within the mountain.


End file.
